FBI offices report indictment of New Roads, La Mayor for racketeering.

 PRN - GHN News - Louisiana
has a reputation as a place of corrupt officials, and the recent
indictment of the Mayor of New Roads, Louisiana is part of the
reputation the state is working to overcome.

In
an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in an ongoing
investigation known as Operational Blighted Officials, a federal grand
jury returned an indictment charging Thomas A. Nelson, Jr. age 40, of
New Roads, Louisiana  He is charged with having violated the Racketeer
Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, wire fraud, using an
interstate facility in aid of racketeering, making false statements to
the FBI and forfeiture.

Nelson is the mayor of the city of New Roads, Louisiana, and is facing up to 65 years' imprisonment and a $1,750,000 fine.

The superseding indictment accuses Nelson of obtaining thousands of
dollars in cash and other things of value that included tickets to
sporting events, luxury hotel rooms and meals from businesspeople in
return for his using his influence as the mayor for the benefit of
businesses in relationship to connections that Nelson believed were
worth millions of dollars.

Another
indictment accuses Nelson of depriving the citizens of New Roads of his
honest services as mayor and lying to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.